We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.Find out moreJump to
Content

Tracy M. Soska

Housing, especially homeownership and affordable housing, remains essential to the American Dream but also among our most challenging social issues, particularly given the collapse of the ...
More

Housing, especially homeownership and affordable housing, remains essential to the American Dream but also among our most challenging social issues, particularly given the collapse of the housing market in the early 21st century. Housing and affordable housing are inextricably linked to both our national economic crisis and our wavering social policies. Housing is both symptomatic of and a catalyst for overarching social and economic issues, such as poverty, economic and educational inequality, and racial disparities, and it remains an unmet need for a significant portion of our population, such as the elderly, disabled, victims of abuse, those aging out of child welfare, veterans, ex-offenders, and others who encounter unique difficulties and lack of supportive services and service coordination. Advancing comprehensive and coordinated housing policies and programs remains important for social work and in the struggle for decent and affordable housing for all.

Flavio F. Marsiglia, Jaime M. Booth, and Adrienne Baldwin

Undocumented immigrants represent a large and vulnerable population in the United States. When conducting individual practice with undocumented immigrants, social workers must be aware of ...
More

Undocumented immigrants represent a large and vulnerable population in the United States. When conducting individual practice with undocumented immigrants, social workers must be aware of the laws that impact service provision, the unique psychosocial stressors that are experienced by this population, as well as their strengths that can be built upon. To that end, this chapter provides a snapshot of who undocumented immigrants are, a history of laws governing immigration in the in United States, an overview of the current legal climate, and a discussion of the process of acculturation and psychosocial stressors and strengths. Specifically, this chapter outlines environmental, instrumental, social, interpersonal, and societal sources of stress and strength. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how laws and unique psychosocial stressors impact individual practice with undocumented immigrants and provides suggestions for culturally competent practice.

Selena T. Rodgers

Trauma literature has seen a paradigm shift from pathology to embracing positive trajectories. Posttraumatic growth (PTG), defined as a positive psychological change resulting from a ...
More

Trauma literature has seen a paradigm shift from pathology to embracing positive trajectories. Posttraumatic growth (PTG), defined as a positive psychological change resulting from a struggle with traumatic or life-changing events, may occur in a variety of populations and events. This entry, therefore, aims to increase our understanding of PTG. The entry begins with the conceptualization of PTG, followed by a discussion of protective factor associations, measures, and psychometric priorities. Nuanced attention is given to global translations and cultural aspects. The entry then presents debates about the challenges, controversy, and biases, as well as an overview of the empirical literature. The entry concludes with PTG contributions for social-work practice and pedagogy, together with recommendations for future research.

Judith A. Davenport and Joseph Davenport, III

Rural social work, whose history stretches back a century, has been revitalized since the mid-1970s. Definitions, typologies, and characteristics of rurality are provided, which serve as a ...
More

Rural social work, whose history stretches back a century, has been revitalized since the mid-1970s. Definitions, typologies, and characteristics of rurality are provided, which serve as a framework for rural practice, policy, and research concerns. A primary focus is on those concerns differentiating rural from urban social work. Social workers interested in additional information are given basic references, as well as material on the National Rural Social Work Caucus, the annual National Institute on Social Work and Human Services in Rural Areas, the electronic journal, and the online listserv.

Neela Dabir

This article focuses on the long-standing global concern of children who live or work on the street, with developing countries having a larger share of the problem. It reviews the paradigm ...
More

This article focuses on the long-standing global concern of children who live or work on the street, with developing countries having a larger share of the problem. It reviews the paradigm shift in the way we look at the “street children” phenomenon and the appropriateness of the new terminology, street-connected children. The article maintains that with an increased understanding of different aspects of the life experiences of these children, through research and practice, it is possible to move toward a more precise definition and estimation of the phenomenon. It also elaborates how social work interventions in different parts of the world have demonstrated effective strategies to work with street-connected children and include them in the larger agenda of child protection at the local, national, and global levels.

Melvin Delgado

Social work practice is best understood and practiced when taking into account the local context. The urban context of social work practice may share much with suburban and rural contexts ...
More

Social work practice is best understood and practiced when taking into account the local context. The urban context of social work practice may share much with suburban and rural contexts but also brings with it unique problems and opportunities.

PRINTED FROM the Encyclopedia of Social Work, accessed online. (c) National Association of Social Workers and Oxford University Press USA, 2018. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the applicable license agreement governing use of the Encyclopedia of Social Work accessed online, an authorized individual user may print out a PDF of a single article for personal use, only (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).